Fuel cells provide an environmental friendly method for generating electricity for a variety of purposes. One major purpose is to provide a back-up supply of electricity in case of power outages. As can be appreciated, if hydrogen is used as a fuel, there are less pollutants produced than in the case of back-up electrical generation that involve the use of internal combustion engines.
Where fuel cells are used to supply back-up power and for other uses, a sufficient amount of hydrogen must be stored to allow the fuel cell to supply a specific amount of electrical energy for the particular load involved. For instance, the specification might be to supply 5 kilowatts of power for 8 hours. Storage of hydrogen for fuel cells that utilize polymer membranes is complicated by the fact that such a fuel cell must be powered up in accordance with a schedule, for instance, every month for 15 minutes, in order to ensure that the membrane remains properly hydrated. The problem with this is that the scheduled maintenance operation of the fuel cell will consume hydrogen that otherwise must be on hand to ensure that the fuel cell will be able to meet its intended power requirements.
As may be appreciated, the continuing requirement to recharge a bulk hydrogen supply is a logistically complex if not expensive proposition. For instance, in order to recharge a bulk hydrogen supply, a tube trailer or other heavy equipment is required. Further expense may be produced where the fuel cell is situated in a geographically remote location. The present invention overcomes this problem by providing a hydrogen supply system and method for a fuel cell employing a polymer membrane that does not require the use of heavy equipment and the like to insure that there is sufficient hydrogen banked for later use by the fuel cell.